One reason we might be struggling with social media’s “fit” within companies is because we’re trying to put it in a box. Is it PR? Is it marketing? Is it customer service? What are the rules? How do we behave? How does this relate to what we’ve done before?
It might just be time to stop thinking top-down, and start considering what lies beneath.
Engineering Foundations
The architect Daniel Burnham and his partner John Wellborn Root broke barriers in architecture in the late 1800s in Chicago. They learned how to defy the soft, clay-ridden ground in Chicago that caused buildings over a few stories to sink and falter. Bedrock in the city was over 125 feet underground, and it was impossible to sink caissons that deeply in order to allow for a taller building.
Until Root had the idea to engineer a new bedrock. He designed a system for pouring concrete slabs that were interlaced with a grid of iron bars that ran the span of the building base. A fundamental support structure that touched every part of the building.
Once he engineered this foundation, Root made it possible for him and Burnham to design and construct the first of the country’s skyscrapers.
Social Media Underneath
We’ve been trying to set social media on top of what we’ve already built, sometimes whether or not that structure is sound. And we’re attempting to tuck it neatly away in a marketing- or PR-related box because that’s what’s familiar and accessible to us when we think “communications”.
But perhaps social media needs to be woven into the foundation of our organizations instead. Not the tools, mind you. Forget about those for the moment. In fact, skip the term “social media” altogether.
Think instead about how you would create communication across your organization if you could start from scratch today. What constants would you impart to make sure that information could flow seamlessly both inside your company and between you and your community? What barriers exist now that you’d tear down? Where are the outdated processes that are hindering your agility, your ability to create and share information?
Even more radically, what if you could redefine the departments in your organization not in terms of their function but in terms of creating a more uninhibited flow of information and results from company to customer? Maybe by making them just a bit messier, less rigid?
Imperfect Communication
There’s so much more to social media’s implications than just reconnecting with a high school buddy on Facebook or having your company tweet product discounts. It’s not about just another communication channel. We’ve got plenty of those, for crying out loud.
What social media is changing is the foundation of all that communication. Its very fabric. We’re engineering new bedrock for how communication works, whether we realize it or not. And whether that makes you uncomfortable or not doesn’t change it.
If all you see is a collection of tools with silly names, you’re missing the fact that the splintered, nimble communication that’s happening around you is what’s really at issue. The ease, portability, and networked nature of media. All those careful, controlled processes that we all deluded ourselves into trusting because they were oh-so-carefully crafted and thought through in endless meetings? Breaking. Because they were built on a crappy foundation.
Yes, You Can Evolve
I can hear it now. “But Amber, you’re talking about shaking the very foundations of business! Some companies will never change! They’ve always done it this way and are afraid to evolve, to change, to do anything different. We need to understand the risks. The ROI. The dos and don’ts.”
To a point, I say that teaching and understand and education are all wonderful things. Learn. Take baby steps. Grow in context and with business goals in mind. I believe in forward progress, even if it’s methodical.
But for Pete’s sake. If the building is sinking but you’re determined to build skyward, you don’t curse the soft ground. You engineer a new bedrock.
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This is the very conversation we are having within our four walls. Who owns it, department-wise? It’s to big for a single “owner”. SM isn’t a program or an initiative. It’s how people communicate, engage and collaborate.
This is the very conversation we are having within our four walls. Who owns it, department-wise? It’s to big for a single “owner”. SM isn’t a program or an initiative. It’s how people communicate, engage and collaborate.
Great post, Amber. I think the analogy of creating a new foundation is fantastic and plan to use it in conversations inside and outside my company.
Great post, Amber. I think the analogy of creating a new foundation is fantastic and plan to use it in conversations inside and outside my company.
This is super enlightening. A fresh perspective on communication AND business.
I feel this may even be a new definition about how future businesses are run.
This is super enlightening. A fresh perspective on communication AND business.
I feel this may even be a new definition about how future businesses are run.
Amber – this is so “right on”. We are in the midst of core/systemic change. – For sure – Social Media is more than lipstick on the pig.
Amber – this is so “right on”. We are in the midst of core/systemic change. – For sure – Social Media is more than lipstick on the pig.
The days are gone when the company message could be controlled by a few marketing executives and advertising agencies. Television, radio and print, all designed to ‘send’ a predetermined message to the masses has increasingly been supplanted by social media.
In my view, the foundation of social media is simply the fact that the masses now control the message – not by a hostile takeover of TV, radio and print, but by the introduction of new tools – mainly email, Twitter and blogs.
Once companies understand that every employee is now part of their PR and marketing team they will begin to utilize this resource instead of trying to control or minimize it. The power of many voices will always win out over a great full page ad in a national magazine.
The days are gone when the company message could be controlled by a few marketing executives and advertising agencies. Television, radio and print, all designed to ‘send’ a predetermined message to the masses has increasingly been supplanted by social media.
In my view, the foundation of social media is simply the fact that the masses now control the message – not by a hostile takeover of TV, radio and print, but by the introduction of new tools – mainly email, Twitter and blogs.
Once companies understand that every employee is now part of their PR and marketing team they will begin to utilize this resource instead of trying to control or minimize it. The power of many voices will always win out over a great full page ad in a national magazine.
Conversation happens, and will happen whatever you try an do; here’s my ha’penn’orth to add to the debate: the role – if there is any – of the PR / Comms team will become one of monitoring the conversation, to ensure that everyone is on the same wavelength and no one is saying anythiing that ges against the company (and by that I don’t mean to say they will become police, ensuring everyone says the same thing). This will allow the Comms team to look at the “bigger picture”, and allow the activities of the – the support, engineering, customer service, even accounts departments to reflect the ethos of the company and spread the word.
Conversation happens, and will happen whatever you try an do; here’s my ha’penn’orth to add to the debate: the role – if there is any – of the PR / Comms team will become one of monitoring the conversation, to ensure that everyone is on the same wavelength and no one is saying anythiing that ges against the company (and by that I don’t mean to say they will become police, ensuring everyone says the same thing). This will allow the Comms team to look at the “bigger picture”, and allow the activities of the – the support, engineering, customer service, even accounts departments to reflect the ethos of the company and spread the word.
Brilliant! A great metaphor, Amber. Why try to build upwards if the ground is shaky? Why are we trying to place social media on top of an existing communication structure that’s admittedly faulty? Your advice to look holistically at communication options – internally, with clients, with community – to let ideas flow makes so much sense.
Mary Cullens last blog post..Business Email Salutations to a Group
Brilliant! A great metaphor, Amber. Why try to build upwards if the ground is shaky? Why are we trying to place social media on top of an existing communication structure that’s admittedly faulty? Your advice to look holistically at communication options – internally, with clients, with community – to let ideas flow makes so much sense.
Mary Cullens last blog post..Business Email Salutations to a Group
Of course, the IT and Internet worlds are built on a bedrock of things that came along after OTHER things were so firmly in place as to be nearly impossible to dislodge. New practices that would be efficient and cost-effective often get shuffled aside because of the absolute TERROR engendered by the act of re-engineering processes people are comfortable with.
It’s not easy, in other words, to take the leap of faith necessary to make “bedrock” changes in existing structures…
David Niall Wilsons last blog post..Me, My Epiphone, and Thin Lizzy’s Emerald
Of course, the IT and Internet worlds are built on a bedrock of things that came along after OTHER things were so firmly in place as to be nearly impossible to dislodge. New practices that would be efficient and cost-effective often get shuffled aside because of the absolute TERROR engendered by the act of re-engineering processes people are comfortable with.
It’s not easy, in other words, to take the leap of faith necessary to make “bedrock” changes in existing structures…
David Niall Wilsons last blog post..Me, My Epiphone, and Thin Lizzy’s Emerald
Amber,
First Seth Godin on dealing with the irrational customer and now you on building a new bedrock. Frankly for me – they go to together. I am taking a new look at dealing with my customers just how they are, not trying to change them. I can use a better bedrock to stand on and grow skyward. This gives me, and my customer, room to grow and be who we are! Now I’m hearing Gary Vaynerchuk in my head “use your own DNA”! Communication has to be (for me) a response to what I’m hearing from my clients. My bedrock has got to be more involved with inbound marketing and less with SHOUTING my message. Thanks for the great post!
@debworks Deb
Amber,
First Seth Godin on dealing with the irrational customer and now you on building a new bedrock. Frankly for me – they go to together. I am taking a new look at dealing with my customers just how they are, not trying to change them. I can use a better bedrock to stand on and grow skyward. This gives me, and my customer, room to grow and be who we are! Now I’m hearing Gary Vaynerchuk in my head “use your own DNA”! Communication has to be (for me) a response to what I’m hearing from my clients. My bedrock has got to be more involved with inbound marketing and less with SHOUTING my message. Thanks for the great post!
@debworks Deb
Excellent post, Amber. There are two things I’d like to propose adding to your metaphor:
– The bedrock you describe really needs to be built on a company’s values. That said, not every company values the openness and trust that’s required for social media to really work its magic (Apple being the most infamous example). This doesn’t mean social media tools don’t offer value to some organizations.
– I’d also like to encourage you to think about the blueprints necessary to build the skyscrapers. Adapting to change is one thing. Moving forward without any kind of strategic planning for how social media tactics will best serve both employees and customers is quite another. “Think instead about how you would create communication across your organization if you could start from scratch today.” This conversation will necessarily take time. And that’s okay. There’s no race to the finish line, here – social media isn’t going anywhere.
Hopefully your post will cause companies to pause and reflect on their current communications challenges. Thanks again.
Excellent post, Amber. There are two things I’d like to propose adding to your metaphor:
– The bedrock you describe really needs to be built on a company’s values. That said, not every company values the openness and trust that’s required for social media to really work its magic (Apple being the most infamous example). This doesn’t mean social media tools don’t offer value to some organizations.
– I’d also like to encourage you to think about the blueprints necessary to build the skyscrapers. Adapting to change is one thing. Moving forward without any kind of strategic planning for how social media tactics will best serve both employees and customers is quite another. “Think instead about how you would create communication across your organization if you could start from scratch today.” This conversation will necessarily take time. And that’s okay. There’s no race to the finish line, here – social media isn’t going anywhere.
Hopefully your post will cause companies to pause and reflect on their current communications challenges. Thanks again.
This does open up a great big can’o’worms from a structural perspective. I’ve always thought arguments about where social media “fit” in the organization are silly – akin to arguing whether email fits in marketing, IT, PR, or Operations. The obvious answer is “all of them – it’s simply a tool that different areas of the business use.”
That’s a decent short-term answer and allows a company (like the one I’m in) to make effective use of community and social media tools without turf wars between departments. But I love that you’ve opened it up to the long-term question of whether those departmental definitions are still relevant.
Final question: what examples do we have of new technologies or new communication methods changing the way a business is structured? The industrial revolution comes to mind, as does the telephone. I can’t decide whether the advent of email changed fundamental structures – it certainly made remote work and virtual teams more possible.
Russ Somerss last blog post..Edge Cases and Guy-on-a-Ship
This does open up a great big can’o’worms from a structural perspective. I’ve always thought arguments about where social media “fit” in the organization are silly – akin to arguing whether email fits in marketing, IT, PR, or Operations. The obvious answer is “all of them – it’s simply a tool that different areas of the business use.”
That’s a decent short-term answer and allows a company (like the one I’m in) to make effective use of community and social media tools without turf wars between departments. But I love that you’ve opened it up to the long-term question of whether those departmental definitions are still relevant.
Final question: what examples do we have of new technologies or new communication methods changing the way a business is structured? The industrial revolution comes to mind, as does the telephone. I can’t decide whether the advent of email changed fundamental structures – it certainly made remote work and virtual teams more possible.
Russ Somerss last blog post..Edge Cases and Guy-on-a-Ship
The foundation I think companies need to pursue is a CRM strategy that utilizes social media functionality. Bring your customer service assets to all your social interactions. Use those interactions to learn about your customers and your marketplace. I really wish people would stop talking about companies becoming social entities in the same way people have. Brands are not friends. If you can’t be honest about who you are… people won’t trust you, and your social efforts will backfire. I think the CRM concept is going to become the answer that works best for most companies.
The foundation I think companies need to pursue is a CRM strategy that utilizes social media functionality. Bring your customer service assets to all your social interactions. Use those interactions to learn about your customers and your marketplace. I really wish people would stop talking about companies becoming social entities in the same way people have. Brands are not friends. If you can’t be honest about who you are… people won’t trust you, and your social efforts will backfire. I think the CRM concept is going to become the answer that works best for most companies.
Excellent post, Amber. It really is time to start thinking about change in a new way, not building on what has always been done. Great insights.
Excellent post, Amber. It really is time to start thinking about change in a new way, not building on what has always been done. Great insights.
Hi Amber. Love this. One of the things I find interesting to think about is how social media has increased employees’ participation in the brand (like it or not, for better or worse, etc.). I wonder what smart companies are doing to equip and empower their teams (across the organization) given that reality.
Hi Amber. Love this. One of the things I find interesting to think about is how social media has increased employees’ participation in the brand (like it or not, for better or worse, etc.). I wonder what smart companies are doing to equip and empower their teams (across the organization) given that reality.
@Brant, you’ve just touched on something that’s really key for me. I think social media has *enormous* potential to reshape internal cultures and increase the level of investment that each person in the company has in the brand and its future. It’s that tearing down of silos I’m talking about. Empowering people, getting them invested in the business, sharing more and better information inside the walls. I think it’s a massively untapped area of social media right now and I’m spending time in my day job exploring just how transformational that can be.
Can’t wait to see if and when some companies start embracing that idea.
Right on, Amber.
We’re building our company now and social media will be a key constituent. At the same time, however, we’re trying to build a flexible foundation — if there is such a thing — so that we don’t have to completely tear down and rebuild as the world evolves.
Right on, Amber.
We’re building our company now and social media will be a key constituent. At the same time, however, we’re trying to build a flexible foundation — if there is such a thing — so that we don’t have to completely tear down and rebuild as the world evolves.
Rebuilding the bedrock to support new social media expectations has to start on the inside. Senior managers, leaders and employees at all levels have to be able to connect with one another, forming communities and discussion groups, before the brand itself can do so externally. Or, at least that’s how my feeble mind sees it. Once the people experience the power of social media internally, they’ll be able to harness it and understand it and turn it outward. Until then, it’ll be seen as a program or initiative, not as a new way of doing business. Some organizations are on board with this concept already; however, most are still stuck wrestling with how to manage their email system, much less thinking about social media. That’s a huge disconnect. Change is coming, just more slowly than most of us who “get it” are comfortable seeing.
Jason Anthoines last blog post..Monkey See, Monkey Do; Or, How to Avoid Throwing Cold Water on Innovation
Rebuilding the bedrock to support new social media expectations has to start on the inside. Senior managers, leaders and employees at all levels have to be able to connect with one another, forming communities and discussion groups, before the brand itself can do so externally. Or, at least that’s how my feeble mind sees it. Once the people experience the power of social media internally, they’ll be able to harness it and understand it and turn it outward. Until then, it’ll be seen as a program or initiative, not as a new way of doing business. Some organizations are on board with this concept already; however, most are still stuck wrestling with how to manage their email system, much less thinking about social media. That’s a huge disconnect. Change is coming, just more slowly than most of us who “get it” are comfortable seeing.
Jason Anthoines last blog post..Monkey See, Monkey Do; Or, How to Avoid Throwing Cold Water on Innovation
Posts like this are why I think you are amazingly brilliant. You shine. Truly.
Shannon Pauls last blog post..STOP LOOKING FOR EASY ANSWERS WHEN IT COMES TO SOCIAL MEDIA
Posts like this are why I think you are amazingly brilliant. You shine. Truly.
Shannon Pauls last blog post..STOP LOOKING FOR EASY ANSWERS WHEN IT COMES TO SOCIAL MEDIA
This blog post and Meatball Sundae should be read by all businesses. Thanks for sharing your insight.
This blog post and Meatball Sundae should be read by all businesses. Thanks for sharing your insight.
I’ve been thinking along similar lines Amber, except in terms of the small business, or solo business. I’m a solo entrepreneur, and when I saw how Facebook connected me to people I hadn’t talked to in over 20+ years, I knew I was witnessing a revolution in communications.
For me, self-promotion had always been anonymous. I was promoting my work and my company. My web site was written in third person tense. I was trying to “level the playing field” and “make myself look bigger.”
Today, that’s all changed. Whether the current tools like Twitter and Facebook remain is irrelevant. The paradigm and mind-set have changed. Thanks for the thoughts.
Bob Donohues last blog post..Launching a New TV Show
I’ve been thinking along similar lines Amber, except in terms of the small business, or solo business. I’m a solo entrepreneur, and when I saw how Facebook connected me to people I hadn’t talked to in over 20+ years, I knew I was witnessing a revolution in communications.
For me, self-promotion had always been anonymous. I was promoting my work and my company. My web site was written in third person tense. I was trying to “level the playing field” and “make myself look bigger.”
Today, that’s all changed. Whether the current tools like Twitter and Facebook remain is irrelevant. The paradigm and mind-set have changed. Thanks for the thoughts.
Bob Donohues last blog post..Launching a New TV Show
Another home run. Keep on hitting ’em out of the park, Amber.
Connie Reeces last blog post..Five in the Morning
Another home run. Keep on hitting ’em out of the park, Amber.
Connie Reeces last blog post..Five in the Morning
Awesome insight, Amber.
The marketing folks say something like, “People don’t want to buy a drill. They want to make a hole.” That even applies to social networking tools — they don’t want to Tweet, they want what tweeting, etc. gives them that they didn’t have before.
Foundation crumbling evidence: staid bastion of conservatism and IT ludditism — surgery — Twitters from the operating room: http://tinyurl.com/bwe5jr. Walls break because people need them down.
Per John Adams, “Facts are stubborn things…”
Peter Becks last blog post..Ah, Tom, We Hardly Knew Ye
Awesome insight, Amber.
The marketing folks say something like, “People don’t want to buy a drill. They want to make a hole.” That even applies to social networking tools — they don’t want to Tweet, they want what tweeting, etc. gives them that they didn’t have before.
Foundation crumbling evidence: staid bastion of conservatism and IT ludditism — surgery — Twitters from the operating room: http://tinyurl.com/bwe5jr. Walls break because people need them down.
Per John Adams, “Facts are stubborn things…”
Peter Becks last blog post..Ah, Tom, We Hardly Knew Ye
Brilliant post, Amber, and I love the engineering analogy. So many companies focus on the tools and forget that they must first build lay the foundation with a strong communications strategy.
Best,
Daria
Brilliant post, Amber, and I love the engineering analogy. So many companies focus on the tools and forget that they must first build lay the foundation with a strong communications strategy.
Best,
Daria
“If the building is sinking but you’re determined to build skyward, you don’t curse the soft ground. You engineer a new bedrock”.
That’s just beautiful. What you’re saying is so true and really, it’s just human nature. We try to understand new things in relation to the things we already know.
But as you say, not everything fits in with what we already know.
“If the building is sinking but you’re determined to build skyward, you don’t curse the soft ground. You engineer a new bedrock”.
That’s just beautiful. What you’re saying is so true and really, it’s just human nature. We try to understand new things in relation to the things we already know.
But as you say, not everything fits in with what we already know.
Hi, Amber. This post does a good job of bringing some known, but often undiscussed, truths about business and even human behavior: we look for absolutes, we follow routines, and we avoid digging for deeper, more stable solutions because of the upheaval and chaos the process will inevitably bring. Just because something’s always been done one way doesn’t mean it’s the only way, or even the most productive or efficient way. Sometimes those that ask these questions or challenge the norm can find themselves in some crosshairs, though, and that’s a risk.
Process-wise, I’ll throw in one experience-based suggestion that might be helpful to some: there’s a software development methodology called Scrum. It’s an agile methodology, which pretty much means it seeks to slice off parts or elements of a whole horizontally in an iterative fashion. Instead of developing a new program or product in it’s entireity (a 2-4 year endeavor for many)to then discover it doesn’t meet consumer needs or it’s flawed, Scrum has companies developing a part of the product or software, releasing it to your customers, and moving on to develop the next part. This allows for some real-application feedback from users (provided you build your cycles that way)and can lead to greater transparency–within a company and via a published product roadmap with external audiences–potentially creating an atmosphere of continuous process improvement. It’s actually a simple process but challenging to indoctrinate because of those inherent, learned behaviors you mention above.
Thanks for the great read!
Heather Rasts last blog post..The “Content Entanglement Factor”: Inform, Engage, Entertain
Hi, Amber. This post does a good job of bringing some known, but often undiscussed, truths about business and even human behavior: we look for absolutes, we follow routines, and we avoid digging for deeper, more stable solutions because of the upheaval and chaos the process will inevitably bring. Just because something’s always been done one way doesn’t mean it’s the only way, or even the most productive or efficient way. Sometimes those that ask these questions or challenge the norm can find themselves in some crosshairs, though, and that’s a risk.
Process-wise, I’ll throw in one experience-based suggestion that might be helpful to some: there’s a software development methodology called Scrum. It’s an agile methodology, which pretty much means it seeks to slice off parts or elements of a whole horizontally in an iterative fashion. Instead of developing a new program or product in it’s entireity (a 2-4 year endeavor for many)to then discover it doesn’t meet consumer needs or it’s flawed, Scrum has companies developing a part of the product or software, releasing it to your customers, and moving on to develop the next part. This allows for some real-application feedback from users (provided you build your cycles that way)and can lead to greater transparency–within a company and via a published product roadmap with external audiences–potentially creating an atmosphere of continuous process improvement. It’s actually a simple process but challenging to indoctrinate because of those inherent, learned behaviors you mention above.
Thanks for the great read!
Heather Rasts last blog post..The “Content Entanglement Factor”: Inform, Engage, Entertain
There is a huge need for this kind of thinking among those working on enterprise transformation projects, and among those starting companies. Very clearly articulated.
susan kuhn frosts last blog post..Get in On 2009 Social and Sustainable Business Plan Competitions
There is a huge need for this kind of thinking among those working on enterprise transformation projects, and among those starting companies. Very clearly articulated.
susan kuhn frosts last blog post..Get in On 2009 Social and Sustainable Business Plan Competitions